Silence
by penile-fracture
Summary: Nora is jealous of Billie and Constance's relationship *HOTGOMERY*


**A/N: Uhm, okay, this is based off a prompt from tumblr by anon: Nora is jealous of Billie and Constance's relationship**

**I hope this is a good fic, so enjoy!**

**-PF**

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?" A voice asked anxiously from upstairs. Nora immediately recognized the voice; it was her friend, Billie. Curious, Nora slowly made her way up the stairs of the basement and opened the door a crack to peer out, revealing the medium and an older blonde woman standing by the door.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure," the woman said, waving her arms. "Now what do you need me to do?"

Billie sighed and walked further down the hall. "Just start talking to him, Constance," she said, resting her hand on the staircase's railing.

"And he'll hear me? No matter where he is in the house, he'll be able to hear me, correct?" Constance asked.

Billie gave a bitter laugh. "That's what I'm here for," she said, before muttering to herself, "sadly." Looking at Constance's confused face, she clarified. "I'll redirect your voice directly to him; he won't be able to ignore it."

Constance nodded and walked over to Billie, pulling her into a tight embrace. "I know you'd rather not be here, so thank you for doing this for me," she said. Billie smiled and rubbed her friend's back encouragingly.

"It's alright, I don't have to do much anyway," Billie replied and kissed her on the cheek before pulling away.

Nora was shocked. _That hug lingered for far too long, and that kiss was too close to the lips, _she thought. Nora started to wonder who Constance was to Billie. Sure, Constance was older, but before Nora had met Charles she had certainly dated older men. _She doesn't hug me like that,_ Nora thought indignantly as a pang of jealously shot through her.

Nora pushed those thoughts away. She had been harboring feelings for the medium ever since they had met- who could blame her; Billie was the only person to talk to her in this lonesome house- but knew it could never work out. Who would want to be attached to a woman who was stuck in a house filled with many vengeful spirits.

Nora snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Constance start to speak. They had moved from the hall to the living room, so Nora had to strain to listen from so far away.

"Tate? Tate, honey? It's me, your mother," Constance said shakily. "Tate? Are you there?" she asked. She turned to Billie. "Why isn't he here? What if he doesn't want to see me?"

Billie offered a reassuring smile. "Constance, it's only been a couple of moments, give him time."

Constance nodded and continued. "Tate, I know you don't want to see me, but if you would just please come down here. I'm here, and-"

Tate suddenly appeared in the doorway, clutching his head. "Jesus Christ! I get it, you wanna see me, but did you have to have that medium blast it in my head?"

Constance ran forward and clutched his shoulders. "Tate, please don't go," she begged, "I just want to see you."

He nodded reluctantly and pulled away. "Fine, it's not like I have anywhere else to be," he muttered, plopping himself on the couch.

Billie cleared her throat. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom," she announced, walking out of the room. She headed up the stairs and entered the bathroom, locking the doors. She pulled a cigarette from her purse and lit it, taking in a deep whiff.

Nora soon followed her up the stairs and hesitantly knocked on the door. "Billie, it's me, Nora," she called out.

The door opened, revealing a smiling Billie. "Nora, come in!" she welcomed, taking her arm. She sat on the floor, leaning against the tub, and patted the seat next to her expectantly. Nora slowly sat down, shoulder to shoulder. Nora's heart was thumping so loudly at the close contact, she was surprised Billie didn't notice.

"So, you and Constance," Nora blurted out, unable to stop herself from talking. "You two are close?"

Billie gave a confused looked. "Yes, I've known her for a while. How do you know her?"

Nora cursed herself for not being able to hold her tongue. "Oh, not in person, but I've seen her," she said, before quickly adding, "with you, in fact. Today, with Tate."

Nora knew she had hit a sore spot when she saw Billie grimace at the mention of that boy. She decided to use this to her advantage.

"It was pretty low of her to use you like that, fully knowing of how uncomfortable you are around him," she said. Nora knew that she was being petty and extremely selfish; ruining a friendship because of her jealousy. But at the same time, she knew she wouldn't be able to handle Constance and Billie being more than friends, and she had to ensure that it wouldn't happen.

"She may have asked, but I'm happy to help her out," Billie quickly defended her friend_, _confused as to why the sudden change in Nora's demeanor.

Nora shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know, it just looked like she was using you to talk to her dead son."

Billie took a long drag from her cigarette and sighed. Ever since she had met Nora, she had a bit of a crush on her, but she wasn't too sure anymore after hearing Nora put Constance down. Still willing to give Nora a chance, she decided to see what the real problem was.

"Nora," she said, delicately, still unsure how to phrase it. "Are you upset with me?"

"Oh no, of course not!" Nora quickly said, immediately regretting her decision to start this. "I'm not mad at you at all!"

Billie frowned. "Then why are you nitpicking at my friends? Is Constance the problem?" Nora sighed, knowing what she had to do. She fiddled with the ring on her finger and stared at the floor as she spoke.

"Billie, I don't want to lie to you," she started. "You're my friend- hell, you're my only friend- and it's wrong to let my jealously hurt you."

"Jealousy?" Billie asked, her heart racing.

Nora took a deep breath and continued on. "Ever since you found me in that horrid basement, I've been counting the days since you'd come back." After seeing Billie's guilty face, she quickly added on, "I know you're busy, you have that great new film, I don't blame you for that! I'm just saying that I miss seeing you." Billie gave a small smile at the mention of the "film", reminding her that Nora still didn't understand modern inventions, but returned to her grim exterior, listening to the ghost. After reassuring her, Nora returned to her confession. "Anyways, when I'm around you I'm so much happier. Before you came, I was a mess. I couldn't remember anything but the memory of Thaddeus. I knew I was sad, but I didn't know why. But when I met you, I remembered everything and now I'm able to get past those memories."

Billie had an idea where this was going, but didn't want to push her yet. Instead of asking if Nora had a crush on her, she asked, "So why were you complaining about Constance?"

Nora looked away ashamedly and reluctantly replied, "Oh, I just saw the two of you today,"

Billie pressed on. "And? What happened to make you interrogate me?"

Nora started to stand up. "This was a bad idea, I'm sorry," she said as she started to go.

Billie quickly grabbed her hand. "Wait, no," she said as she stood up. "Can we kiss?"

Nora's jaw dropped as Billie stood there, holding her hand. With no immediate response, Billie started to worry that she had misinterpreted things. _She's from the twenties for god's sake, she won't just reject you but shun you. She'll never want to see you ever again, I should've just kept quiet and waited until I got over-_

Billie's thoughts were interrupted by a pair of hands reaching up to hold her face. Nora leaned in and hesitantly kissed her on the lips.

The kiss started off slow and light, but slowly deepened, becoming firmer. Billie brought up her hands to tangle in the other woman's silky hair.

"I've been wanting to kiss you for a while now. I like you a lot," Nora admitted as she pulled back, their faces centimeters apart. "I feel safe with you, something I haven't felt in almost ninety years."

Billie smiled. "Well I promise to do my best in making sure you're safe, always," she promised.

Nora beamed. "And I will make sure to keep you safe from any ghost who tries to talk to you," she replied.

Billie laughed. "Jealous are we? Again?"

Nora scrunched her nose and playfully shoved the medium. She opened the bathroom door and started to walk out. "Come on, let's go down to my basement, the bathroom is starting to smell like smoke, thanks to someone," she said, with a pointed look.

Billie opened a window and discarded her cigarette before skipping after the socialite. "But make sure to hurry past the living room, Constance is in there, I don't want you to get jealous again!" she teased.

Their laughs echoed throughout the halls, lighting up the once somber house.


End file.
